sambum

1 hour ago, spermwhale said:

You are quite incorrect about Thailand's "man bpen rai" attitude. Actually the performance of Thailand has been most excellent, considering. According to WHO, Thailand is the fifth-most prepared country in the world for this kind of outbreak, ahead of even Sweden and best in Asia. Look at the stats. Almost all of the patients are Chinese. 

 

 

"Almost all of the patients are Chinese."

Well, there's a surprise (not!) - well done Sherlock!!! 

And the performance of Thailand has NOT been most excellent - why have they not closed their borders to Chinese? (Which, by the way, if you hadn't noticed, is where the outbreak started and there are now many THOUSANDS of people infected - according to one reputable source:- "The new figures brought the total number of deaths in China to at least 636. And the total number of confirmed cases rose to 31,161."

To answer my own question - baht, and the reluctance to risk "offending" the puppet master!

"The other two Thais had exposure to tourists, he said."

Bad choice of words.

39 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

No need to get too worked up about this inane tirade. It is likely he will be dismissed fairly soon.

 

First of all he is the health minister, dealing with health crisis, with absolutely no experience in the field of health. That in itself is a major issue. As long as things were honky dory, not a real issue. But now? His ineptitude and incompetence is alot harder to hide with this emergency situation.

 

Next, there seem to be at least a few intelligent people within the administration, who do not tolerate this kind of psychobabble. We all saw that with the little Joke, and are likely to see it with little Oud, if he does not treat carefully. After all tourism brings in a substantial amount of money each year. 

 

You do not want to totally bite the hand that feeds you, now do you? 

I remember a (little Oud) comment of a couple of weeks back as if it were yesterday:-

"Be nice to the tourists, we need their money"

4 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

How d'you know?!

Give over! The standard of English usage for a start would be beyond any Thai minister!

8 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

The really sad part is that it seems to be a deliberate attempt to pick from the bottom of the barrel. It seems to be all about nepotism, and cronyism. There is no such thing as merit, when it comes to qualifications, with nearly any of the ministers in this very hapless administration. The same probably applies to the army. 

"The same probably applies to the army." They ARE Army without the uniforms! And the same applies to the police! A friend of my Thai wife has a son who wanted to join the police. She was told "Oh, it costs a lot of money to join the police"!

59 minutes ago, Salerno said:

Just noticed your edit Not necessarily, it's likely passed on by contact not by someone without symptoms coughing on you

Someone not showing symptoms doesn't mean they are not infected - it can take up to 2 weeks for symptoms to show.

And I don't often see a person "coughing ON" another person anyway - in "our" world it's not polite - however, people who spit on the floor, and relieve themselves in buses, and generally behave like animals probably wouldn't think twice about it, so these are the people that should be forced to wear the masks as it seems this Government "doesn't want to offend" someone by letting them stream into the country!

30 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Again, if you're coughing and sneezing, you ain't out and about, you're flat on your back.

But you don't need to be coughing and sneezing to be carrying the virus!!! And just because you're coughing and sneezing doesn't mean you've got the virus - might just be a common cold - my wife had 2 or 3 weeks ago, and no, she wasn't flat on her back!

However, IF you are coughing and sneezing, it makes sense to (a) get checked out, and (b) wear a mask anyway to prevent passing on whatever you have to others.(My wife wore one, and washed her hands regularly, and guess what - I didn't catch her cold!

"some health minister - still has rabies malaria TB etc....not an impressive resume of diseases to have.."

Now I am SURE I must be missing something! Maybe explains his behaviour and comments!!! 

7 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

Here on this link they said he did apologized on Facebook! So ? 

http://thairesidents.com/health/dpm-apologizes-lashing-farangs/?fbclid=IwAR3cyp3Zf4mN508dqGnF2wbsAQqyEV8D0blT-oOQdJ59VD-TlwUebPME_g4

Apparently according to one post he only apologised to reporter(s)

5 hours ago, YetAnother said:

i see , so thai that ride motorcycles and don't use helmuts should have to walk; what an idiot

"so thai that ride motorcycles and don't use helmuts should have to walk"

Actually, yes, as it's against the law to ride a motorcycle and not wear a helmet! (Helmut is a common given name in the German language.!)

6 hours ago, ezzra said:

That's what doctors also tells you about gentile herpes...

Is "gentile" herpes the sort that you catch from a "non believer"?

Or maybe you meant a less severe ("gentle"?) infection?

"Thailand's embattled minister for tourism and sports has told the Thai media that tourists from China have all but stopped coming to Thailand. 

But he has said that in the second half of the year twice as many as usual will flood back to Thailand."

Oh, that's all right then, I'll tell my bank manager that everything will be OK!

"Another 41 people on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan have tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases on board to 61.

The new cases on the Diamond Princess bring Japan's number of confirmed cases to 86, the second highest figure after China."

TAT - we need you!

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I think you misunderstand. What people who live in Thailand dislike so much is that the value of their income from overseas has plummeted - in my case by nearly 50 per cent since I first began to live here. Add to that the massive inflation in Thailand, where prices often increase by 10-20 per cent at a time when the norm in most other countries is 1-2 per cent, it starts to get nasty. So if the value of the currency falls back again, largely due to the idiotic policy of sucking up to the Chinese (remember, many Thais have Chinese background) and discouraging everyone else, I really have no sympathy at all.

 

So it has nothing to do with disliking the place, as you suggest. It has a lot to do with Thailand offering third world goods and services at what are now first world prices. As for the old chestnut of why are you still here (a variant of why don't you go back where you come from), many have family and roots in Thailand.

Well put! I try to explain to my Thai wife about the value of the baht to the British pound, and that I used to get in excess of 70 and now it's down to 40 - it's pointless, as all she understands is the amount of baht I give her every month is just the same!

And my pet hate? "why don't you go back where you come from" (NOT from my wife, I hasten to add!)

20 hours ago, geisha said:

Why did the baht drop last week, 34.60 B to 1 euro , and now it’s back to 34 ?? Is it likely to drop again soon ? 

Same with the British Pound - went up to 41 and now back down to 40

4 hours ago, maddox41 said:

And yep the <deleted> has finally  hit the fan... 

Thats what happens when they the Thais   rely and believe in a country that doesn't  really spend as much money as the TAT  say it does??  

And now we Farangs have woken up to the fact we are not really that welcome no more. I still laugh that they all think we are  millionaire's  thou? .. Farangs will move on to greener pastures a new.. 

I baled after 12 yrs in Thailand ???????? enough was enough I will take my retirement salary   to another place and laz my days away on another beach somewhere else in the world. 

RIP Thailand should of looked after the farang in the first place not the tight <deleted> chinese and Indians tourists.  

 

 

"I still laugh that they all think we are  millionaire's  thou" (though?)

My Thai (Esan) wife's logic is that you must have a lot of money because you could afford to pay for a flight to get you here in the first place! 

2 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

Lot of schadenfreude in the comments. If you feel this way, why are you still here?

Thought this was an English speaking Forum - "schadenfreude"?

And congrats on being first today in the "if you don't like it, go home" brigade! 

"the Tourism Council of Thailand", and "the Ministry of Tourism and Sports" need to consult their bosses TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) and they will surely be able to show an upward trend - they always have up to now, and are experts in manipulating statistics!

10 hours ago, harada said:

I'm surprised that the old crooner himself wasn't the frontman for this performance. ????

I read the other day that he's not feeling well - no further comment! ????

22 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

~ 40 flights per day (BKK+DMK; probably what another 10-ish going into other airports), but that will probably be reduced by half, or more, as of Thursday.

 

 

Why not by 100%?

23 hours ago, adammike said:

It's not happening the pound, euro both down, the £ back under 40.

Correct  - The pound went up to 40.8 briefly  -  down to 40.5 today

Perhaps the ones that DO come won't be made to feel very welcome anyway, and will return to China with  less than favourable reports of Thailand as a holiday destination?

So let a few in - treat them like lepers, and they will spread the word on their return home, and hopefully the Chinese will take their custom elsewhere.

Then, once again, hopefully (because that old chestnut, FACE comes into play) the Thai Government may realise that long and short stay "farangs" do have something to offer after all! 

Ban all Chinese temporarily?  N/C - Baht/TAT rules - OK?